[00:00:00] Speaker A: Sam.
Foreign.
Welcome to tonight's episode of Pivotal Change. I'm your host, William Khan and we are here to talk about leadership, business influence, all of the good things that can help drive your business forward. All of the insights, the tips, the tricks, the lessons that can help you make your pivotal change down your path to success.
We always like to invite people on the show to share their expertise from across various entrepreneurial backgrounds, executive leadership coaching positions. We're going to have a special guest for the second half of the show, but right now we want to talk a little bit about the dangers of in today's economy being average. And average becomes even more dangerous. So here's what we're going to open up the segment with. Okay. We're going to set the stage with how most Americans can still feel that something is different. Maybe they can't quite put their finger on it. Yeah, maybe gas prices here, the gallon of milk there. Or just something is different. And you can't just say every single little detail points to one cause or the other. Of course we get some of the massive larger global infrastructure changes, global economy, or say we blame the president or even a local politician like a governor or mayor of the town that passed a new ordinance. But it's going to be a lot more involved than that. The stock market may not be performing the exact way that you want. It goes up and down, like we always know. Unemployment does remain relatively low, yet many families are still feeling some financial pressure every month.
Why is the question so the new economic reality, I think there's certain things in our economy that we all know are rapidly changing. And of course, the big buzzword AI is one of them. So even though inflation may have slowed, prices are still kind of remaining elevated. And it is uncommon for prices to drastically reduce in any account in any economy. Even like housing. Affordability remains one of the biggest, biggest challenges in over the several decades. Insurance premiums is another huge one. People are just getting knocked around by the insurance premiums. I'll just say, for example, our insurance premiums from 25 to 26 year went up 47%.
I can't think of any other time in my life that I've had a 40% increase in something that was the exact same as it was just months or within the last calendar year. Interest rates. Have fun. Fundamentally changed borrowing costs. The interest rates have stayed high for a while. We're finally getting a little bit of rollback from feds and that's nice. But of course, the AI and the automation is accelerating. Workplace change can Humans keep up with their adaptation of how they work, with the way that AI can supplement work. And I think humans are much more adaptable than AI in the long game. But in the immediate front, it may be challenging.
Labor costs, some of the things that business owners are seeing are still remaining pretty elevated. Payrolls and salaries are having to go up. More benefits and fringe benefit offerings are having to be offered. Customers are actually becoming much more selective when they're spending things. So if you are not serving their exact exact niche of what they desire, they're not looking for a a one size fits all item. Everything has to be customized. These days, specialized margins are getting tighter. People are still able to make a living, but it ain't the living that it was 10, 15, 20 years ago in comparison. And here's a good thing, but also a tough thing, is that competition is increasing. So competition is a major driver of necessity for change in allow people to elevate their status and position.
But during the moment when you first experience the competition, it is in fact a squeeze. And then the need for efficiency is greater than ever. Humans continue to heap on various levels of operation of personal plans, travel complications to production, the enhancers, like I said, to niche and specialty projects. Everything gets more complex. So the ability to be efficient is that much more valuable.
Here's, here's a good reference for you guys. Jerome Powell, if you don't know who that is, that's the Federal Reserve chair. He summarized a lot of these challenges by making this quote. Let me read it to you. Restoring price stability is essential to set the stage for achieving maximum employment and stable prices over the long run. So let's translate that just a little bit. Even if inflation cools off, which is what we're seeing, businesses and families may still be living with permanently higher costs from basic economic shifts and changes. So we can still have. Inflation had been so high for so long that even if it cools off in the right now terms, we're still feeling the squeeze from the, the historic increase in inflation for several years.
I want to say several years. Let me explain this. For decades and centuries, the average human, the average person out there or family could genuinely survive a very comfortable life by just simply working hard, showing up, working hard, putting in a good day's work, and then being able to go home. Now, today, obviously working hard is still a necessity, a basic component of being successful, but it's generally starting to be seen as no longer sufficient by itself.
You've heard me say a lot of quotes in the past about things like you may not be the fastest, biggest, strongest, smartest, most wittiest person in the room, but you can always be the hardest per person in the room. I'm not changing that quote yet because you can still do that and that's the right mindset. But if you show up and you outwork everyone else, but you still don't add on into some of the areas we're going to talk about, your hard work has diminishing returns, but still be the hardest person, the hardest working person in the room.
So let's maybe give a couple of examples here. Talking about two people. So one person can continues learning, they continue adapting, they observe and explore what's out there. And they say I need to add this to my skill set or build on to an existing one and I need to expand relationships because again, things are becoming more complex and I don't want to stay narrow minded while the other person says I'm simply going to do what I've always done and I'm going to do a really good job and I'm just going to sit in my chair and do the same thing I've done every day to the best of my ability. A noble characteristic, but which one of those two people five years later is going to be living a completely different life than the other? What kind of economic status are the two different people that making those choices going to be in? They will not be in the same place, probably not 12 months from now, but certainly not five years from now.
So the leadership transition is going to be a huge part of this. The real issue isn't the economy. We've had every different type of observed economy or labeled, you know, by the book economy in existence in this world.
Several has failed and succeeded over time. From empires to capitalist society to democratic societies to societies that were feudal systems and everything in between.
And humans always recover. So it's not ultimately just the economy that's the real issue. The real issue is how we respond to it, how we proactively seek to change it and ride the wave that the economy is bringing our way. Which really is going to start leading us a little bit more conversation of the next segment. But I want to teach you about the things that I just mentioned, right? How do you continue learning in today's society?
One of the major things you need to do, whether you're the business owner, right? You can go to another business owner and say, hey, what are you doing differently? Okay? Even if it's competitor or just a companion industry, like we build part A, they build Part B. And then it gets shipped to the manufacturing facility to be plugged into component C. Right? Go ask A and B, what can we be doing better? What do we need to be learning about? What do we need to be watching for and changing in our industry?
That way you can observe what adaptation is necessary.
And then I want to talk to you just for a minute about bullets and cannonballs. Okay? When it comes to adapting, you may identify through research. Go ahead and use chat GPT. Hey, what is the the fastest trending topic in my industry right now? Hey, what is the biggest or hurdle you see to my enterprise in the next one three, five years? And it will tell you break it down. And the more detailed you get in the prompt, the better the quality answer you're going to get. And then you find something you need to adapt with. And you say, I need to take the courage to invest some time, money and material into making this change.
So don't just say, hey, we've got a $100,000 budget. We're going to put $100,000 behind this new change. We're going to buy the equipment, hire the person, do all the stuff. Boom. And guess what? Maybe that wasn't the adaptation you needed and wasted. A hundred thousand, a million dollars, $10 million that you just shot down range in a big giant cannonball. Instead, take $10,000, give somebody a little bit of overtime for a side project and the resources appropriate, necessary, and try it out on five clients first. Ten clients first. If that seems to be working and you're getting good feedback, you're getting good returns, take that 10,000, turn into 50,000, fire another bullet, right? So you're firing smaller amounts. You have a limited supply of gunpowder, which is your money, right? And you have the ability to fire 100 bullets or one cannonball. Why not test fire a couple of bullets or I'm sorry, 100 bullets or 10 cannonballs. Why would you fire all 10 cannonballs when you can test fire with bullets and then fire the cannonballs to make the big impact sink in the other ship, disrupting the economy and growing. So those are things that you can do. Building new skills is huge as well. You need to go out and say, man, I do not know it. Everybody at some point scratches their head and says, I don't know this or I don't know how to do this good enough.
And you need to go actively figure out how to build that skill or build the skills in your employees even better so they can come up and then expand your relationships. One of the greatest breakthroughs we ever had in my former accounting firm is when we stopped thinking like accountants and we started thinking like people from a couple other agencies. We started thinking like nurses, teachers and cops, right? And we applied that into how we handle, react and proactively reach out to our client and customer base. And it totally changed the relationships. And so by asking those questions of people in different industries, completely different industries, a lot of them public servants, we were able to say, hey, we could do something different. We made the adaptation, we tried it with a few people, we developed the skill necessary to apply it, and we fired the bullets, developed the skills, made the adaptation, and we were able to triple and almost quadruple our our gross income in just a matter of years.
So if you want five years from now to be living in a completely economic different status than what you are and it be an elevated one and not one where you continuously can fail to keep up and you're barely keeping your head above water, try those four skills out, take care of those things. And then we're going to talk about the leadership transition necessary to do all of this right after this break. So stick with us. We'll be back with more Pivotal changes right after this message.
Foreign.
You made it through our first break on Pivotal Change and we're going to keep rocking and rolling with this episode. But first I want to make sure you can find Pivotal Change and all of the other wonderful programs that NOW Media TV has to offer. And the best place for you to go is on the NOW Media TV website. You can look up the TV show Pivotal Change and you can see all of our historic episodes. You can see and download them anytime you want. It's truly an on demand service. You can find it on iOS, you can find it on Roku, you can get it on YouTube, you can find us just about anywhere. And you can use Google or AI to help you out. Here's one of the cool parts as well is you don't just get Pivotal Change. You get news and culture and other types of media, leadership and business courses, even things in the legal and political realm. And you get it all in a bilingual service, English and Spanish. So just go to NOW Media TV or download the app and you get the bonus of having the listening version on podcast as well in case you can't do it while you watch.
So let's keep talking about this average problem we're talking about in this first half of the episode before we bring on our guest. The danger, danger of being average in today's economy and that's a sharp reality because historically speaking, nobody threw too big of a fuss over that average BNC student. Average used to be safe. You could get average grades, you could put in an average effort and you could do average preparation and you would have quality living. You would have at least, least the median average living in the United States of America, which historically is better than all of the other cultures in the existence for the thousands of years of mankind. Right? So average in today's world has historically been way above average, even though it sounds contradictory. But now with the changing market and the prices, the pace of technology, the efficiencies of various industries, and the inefficiencies of people following by behind average, it's just becoming increasingly more expensive to your health and to your wealth. So we want to have a couple of things. We want to talk about the growing gap. It is certainly widening. People have talked about it historically, the widening gap between the middle class.
Again, the United States middle class is far superior than the middle class and other companies, countries. But we want to talk about our lot, where we exist, where we are now. And so we have this North American version of the middle class and that gap is, is widening.
So one of the main things that we have seen, we can document it through science. People that are widening the gap and they're staying above the gap are learners. They have devoted themselves to whether it's casual and just a little bit of a habit, or even a pleasure versus specific discipline oriented learning. Whichever way it is, they are perpetual students. They are learners versus the people that do not take any proactive capacity in learning more about their job, their industry, their clients, their skill sets, the changes that are facing them. If they just check out at 5:00 and they go home and eat dinner, play video games, do trivia night with friends, and then wake up to go do their 9 to 5 the next day. Those non learners are falling behind faster than ever.
Leaders and followers. Now I have a very common quote that I throw is you must first be a good follower before you can ever become a good leader.
But you got to be a good follower. And a good follower should at some point, desire, elevation, desire promotion, desire and increased status. Okay, if you stay still and you never move well, the world is going to increase alongside you and you're going to again be part of the lower half of the widening gap. So you have to be somebody that in some capacity, want some ownership, want some leadership roles, want some responsibility beyond just clicking the button on the factory line and going home. You will fall behind.
And then there's a difference between builders and consumers. Okay? One of my good friends of mine becomes, are you a maker or a taker? Right. So builders and consumers, makers and takers. Somebody that is going to create, they're going to add to. They're going to make better. Even if they're not constructing some massive industry that's going to be the next Amazon from scratch in their garage.
That's cool. And you should do that if you have the ability. But that's not what we're talking about. Even if you're just on a team, and even if you're on the lowest rung of the hierarchy ladder, you can go and you can add something to that team and you can build that team. Maybe you're an encourager. Maybe you're an ideas person. Maybe you're the one that just can finish it and get it done right before the deadline when everybody else is still confused and lost. You have these different talents. You got to add, you got to build, you got to make better. So that's people that are makers, Whether it's the artistic person, whether it's the manufacturer producing a tool or just a little tiny connector that goes in the middle of the. The vehicle or a piece of equipment that you'll never see or know is there. You're building and you're adding on to something. You're making it more efficient, more effective. Better consumers are the people that are just going to these coffee shops every day and spending $7 on a drink every morning instead of buying $7 worth of stock in that company and growing their wealth. They're consumers. They just want to consume content. They want to consume clothing. They want to consume food. And they're not making. They're not growing a garden and eating their own tomatoes. They're not going out there and doing so much.
They're not making a pot of coffee at the house and then serving their family the coffee that costs pennies on the dollar to do. So be a builder, not a consumer. Be a maker, not a taker. Those three of the four, and the other one is problem solvers versus complainers. Okay? And there's a big difference.
I'm gonna maybe tweak my definition real quick instead of just saying complaining, because it is okay to have complaints. You file a complaint and say something needs to be corrected. But whiner, let me call it a whiner, okay? A complaint is something where there is a perceived issue or problem, but also a suggested solution. So I allow anyone to come up Any of my employees, even, you know, anybody, children, you can have them come up and they're going to say, hey, I have a complaint. But here's what I think the solution is. Here's where I think the fix lies, here's what I think can resolve the complaint. That's okay. You should be approachable at all times. For people that have genuine complaints with proposed solutions, that's how you grow, that's how you have care for the concerns of the people in your circle and you get better altogether. But a whiner probably does it secretly to one or two people that they like to whine to. If they whine openly without solutions and somebody should be pulling a solution out of them, what should change, what should be be better.
But the other people are going to be problem solvers. So you want to be a learner, you want to be a leader, you want to be a builder or maker and you want to be a problem solver. You want to be the person that has the light bulb moment, that's not afraid to speak up or write down or send the email saying, hey, I thought of something. What if we tried this and then you as the recipient and say yes, and if we tried this as well, we would be able to maintain the budget and the workflow and stuff like that and then roll it out, right? And so don't just always be the yeah, but guy, if somebody's genuinely coming up with a complaint with a proposed solution, don't, don't be the, the yeah, but it'll never work. Yeah, but we've always done it this way. Be the yes, I hear you. And what if we tweaked it or ran with it in this capacity? What if you spearheaded the project so we know that the vision was carried out the way you wanted it to.
So why these four categories of the person types that can be documented And I trust you guys are going to go do your own research. I have expect people not to believe what I say anyway. Just look it up and fact check me. That'd be wonderful.
Go look at why this matters. When technology is moving faster.
Go look at this. When competition is increasing literally almost every day, competition is getting tighter and tougher.
People no longer have to hire these massive marketing companies. They can just drive up social media changes and things like that.
So with that, would you rather, in a rapidly evolving AI and technology world, be a person that learns and leads and makes and problem solves, or would you rather be a person that refuses to learn, just wants to be a follower all the time consumes everything and then just whines and complains about it all.
Who is the gap gonna widen into defeat? So you can't be average. The average person doesn't spend much time learning. The average person consumes a whole lot of content and trash into their body.
They follow all the time and never step out. And they whine, whine and complain.
So what the winning people do differently.
They pick up a book they read when other people scrolls. They literally will set time limits on their phone and say, hey, I can't scroll for more than 15 minutes a day, which hopefully is on like a lunch or bathroom break. But don't do it on your lunch. Eat with a real person and have a conversation, but go read a book. Or you have these learner apps, like people have these replacement apps where you can actually, like, learn instead of scroll. So you're scrolling through history, you're scrolling through economics, you're scrolling through business opportunity, entrepreneurs, books and quotes and things like that to learn what other people's people resist.
Lean in when other people complain, don't become the wine yourself, but lean into what's the core issue? Their attitude? Or is there an actual problem that can be solved? And then adapt and solve the problem even if they resist, even if they continue to be a whiner and then take ownership when other people want to cast blame.
The there's really good quote or Jim Collins, he's an author of a book, it's literally called Good to Great. And his famous quote out of that book is, good is the enemy of great. So if you sit here and say, oh, that was good enough. Oh, I feel like I did a good job today, you'll never have a great product or a great day or a great system. So don't just let the comfortable feeling of, yeah, this is good enough. Because those people and those systems, those companies will never become great.
So a couple of things. You know, you can look at law enforcement background as a possibility where you looked in there, and we said, hey, we're going to have higher standards. We continue to raise our standards by prospecting our clients and not just taking everyone who walked through the door. By building a white glove service, we said, we can do better, we can communicate better, we can have a better product. And we built that together as a team. We rolled out content materials and we made sure that we gave them something, showed them something, taught them something in every meeting, right? And that was part of building those companies.
Whether it's coaching athletes in various capacities, you can constantly challenge them to do more, whether it's raising your family or being a part of some type of community program or event or just the community in general. General, don't be the whiner. Take those leadership efforts out there. If you do that, even with those non business activities, your business will prosper as well. So stop being average, stop sitting by and consuming. Stop being a whiner, stop being a taker. Go out there, step forward, make the comment, make the change, go in there and do these things and provide a higher level of service, which is kind of bringing me to my transition point here. So you can always go look me
[email protected] but our next, next, next person we're going to have on here is a very special guest.
I'm hoping what they bring to the show I'm hoping is something very cute but also something very practical for the business owners to chew on, to process and apply in their own lives. Teach us about the next level of service, talks about luxury and how to make yourself a niche that goes on a national scale. Something very specific you offer that serves in many categories. So stay tuned for my next guests in the back half of the show. And we'll be right back with more Pivotal CHANGE after these messages. Just.
Welcome back to PIVOTAL change once again. I am your host, William Kahn, and you have made it past the halfway point. We're going to transition to that wonderful special guest that I told you about, Natalie Kahn. And she's going to tell us some pretty exciting tips and tricks for business owners, but also probably have a cute little adventure for us to walk through. Natalie is the owner of Perennial Palms, that's Perennial Pomeranian.
And she has a national influence in the luxury purebred Pomeranian market. And she is one of the foremost ethical breeders, luxury brand consultant, and she brings a lot to the table and she's going to tell us about just the business, about cute companions and a lot of fun stuff today. So, Natalie, thanks for coming on the show.
[00:25:04] Speaker B: Thanks for having me.
[00:25:07] Speaker A: I can assure the pleasure is all mine. But one thing I want to do is I always like to do two things. I've reminded the audience before to watch with a pen and paper so they can take notes and also like to get them to know you just a little bit. So what first inspired you to start Perennial Palms and how did it grow from just maybe a passion into an actual business?
[00:25:27] Speaker B: It started with our first Pomeranian that we bought our daughter as a birthday present, Millie. She was our first.
And after having her and just falling in love, realized that I wanted to breed them and have more of them.
I went to get my second Pomeranian and it was not such an easy experience as the first one.
So I decided that whenever I started my breeding program, I wanted it to have all of the things that I looked for in a program.
And so that's where I started building from there.
[00:26:02] Speaker A: Okay, I like that a lot. So knowing a little bit of the background, the story, everything like that, you wanted to add to the Pomeranians. You wanted additional cute, furry companions in your life. And the process was not smooth. It was difficult to find good, ethically bred Pomeranians. So you decided to fix the problem and do it yourself. Was that fair enough?
[00:26:21] Speaker B: That's correct. It's exactly what it was.
[00:26:24] Speaker A: Perfect. So what did you learn early on? Let's maybe think about a couple of the early lessons that made you realize that it had to be done the right way or not at all.
[00:26:34] Speaker B: I learned early on first that you wanted to avoid anyone who does puppy mills.
You want it to be an in home program, small, where they really take care of the dogs and love on them. It's important for socialization and hygiene and health.
So that was important to look for. And then after that, I would usually look for honest people.
There's a lot of dishonesty in the dog world. And finding, by asking around, finding out about reputations of different breeders and talking to them, calling them, not just taking their word for it.
And even after selecting a puppy, I would expect updates about the puppy and videos and stuff like that.
[00:27:22] Speaker A: Okay, so then the stuff like that you have referred to, I've heard you say it in interviews, I've actually watched you do, because you do like interview, you have something called breeding standards. And so like you, you've had friends come over and say, what should I look for in a puppy? Because maybe they don't want a Pomeranian, maybe they want, I don't know, a Frenchie or something like that. And you go through this list of breeding standards. So what you just mentioned, like the living conditions, the socialization, I think veterinary care and things that are up to date.
And then you, you had mentioned like, you know, the right people. Are these what you refer to as your breeding standards?
[00:27:54] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:27:55] Speaker A: Okay, perfect. Perfect. And so veterinary care is, is pretty essential because you want to make sure that you have all the vaccinations, you have the health, things like that, that what other considerations are anything like any type of, like diets and like the habitats and, and stuff like that that matter. Can you expand there just A little bit for us.
[00:28:12] Speaker B: Yes, genetics is a huge player.
You can get have all kinds of genetic testing done now and that helps prevent problems in the future. If you know what the genetics are of your dog and what they carry and possible genetic issues that could occur later on in life, like hip dysplasia, stuff like that. That.
So that's super important.
Also looking at the parents, seeing if the parents are friendly, if they are well socialized, if they look well taken care of, they have, you know, their fur has been brushed and they have clean teeth and that sort of thing helps.
[00:28:56] Speaker A: Gotcha. And so, for example, somebody wanted some recommendations or some tips. They could actually possibly get a hold of you and say, hey, like, how do I of course, consult a veterinarian about veterinarian needs? But if you just gave them a checklist or something like that, that's a checklist that you provide as well. All of these things have been done for your puppies or just when you're talking to friends and prospects and clients. I got it. So that's all very.
So one of the things I want to make a distinction about is looking for healthy families and a healthy companion.
Why is it so important that you literally interview anybody before you an in person interview or zoom interview and try to get them personally around the puppies before you ever even authorize a sale? Like, most people just want to make a buck and they're selling puppies out of a cardboard box on the side of the road. But your process is different. Why?
[00:29:47] Speaker B: I'm selling luxury Pomeranians. They are meant to be an addition to your household. They're not meant to be a Christmas present that gets sold after a couple of months or a, A, you know, for a child just to stop playing with and taken care of. And then it ends up in a humane society. These are actual animals that are meant to be taken care of. So the right family is very important.
I make sure that they have the resources to care for the dog because it does cost money. Veterinary care, dog food, grooming, all of those matter. So make sure they have the resources. I make sure that they have the proper setup home.
Homes without a fence can be a problem unless you're willing to walk the dog on a leash home that, you know, maybe you have a big pool in the backyard that the dog could fall in.
So you have to be aware of those types of things. So I do an inspection. I don't physically come to your house and inspect it, but I have you tell me about your home.
And then also I ask who you plan to use as a vet. And if you had pets before, I will reference the vet and make sure that the vet gives you approval.
So that's just some of the things we do in the process of looking for the families.
[00:31:08] Speaker A: I absolutely love that. It sounds like you offer much more of a concierge white glove treatment than, again, just somebody picking up and buying a puppy from their neighbor or somebody in their hometown. And I'm sure that there's a lot of prep and action that goes into us, which definitely reflects the business side. And of course, you've shared some of that. That. But the show is about a lot of entrepreneurs and a lot of business executives. How much planning actually goes into running a successful business. I'm talking things like organization, preparation, behind the scenes work, stuff that people would never see.
[00:31:38] Speaker B: And.
[00:31:38] Speaker A: And you really leaned into it just a moment ago. But can you expand on things, you know, like recordkeeping and health tracking and stuff like that?
[00:31:45] Speaker B: Yes. So there's a lot of paperwork keeping up with the different breeds. Not the different breeds, the different breedings, like the pairings, to make sure that you don't breed two that are incompatible. That can create a lot of genetic problems. So you have to keep up with their genetics of each one, the vet records of each one.
And once the puppies are born, you have to keep their weight to make sure they're growing healthy and keep records on your dogs, where they've gone, which homes they've gone to once you sell them, them, that. That type of record keeping.
[00:32:23] Speaker A: Gotcha. So people would have no idea that in order to be a luxury and legitimate ethical breeder, that you would be, of course, the record keeping. A lot of people know. Yeah, you probably want to know who the parents are, where they came from. And of course, you have grand champion pure blood Russian bloodlines. You have a lot of really good stuff. But people don't know that you got to do genetic testing, the health tracking. You're weighing your puppies, you know, every day or every couple of days to try start their growth, their nutrition, the scheduling, the rotations, you move their beds around various locations, the hygiene side of things. Goodness, you know, puppies can be tough. Just like having a baby with diapers and, you know, spit up and things like that. You know, puppies aren't that much different.
What about the business side of, like, how do you keep up with customer communication or. Or anything like that to have prospects to advertise and market?
[00:33:11] Speaker B: I use social media a lot. I use Instagram, Facebook.
I have a Website and I also have Tick tock and I'm also on Good Dog Gotcha.
[00:33:21] Speaker A: And so before anybody in any of those places and we'll actually get specific into some of your locations here real quick. Ever experiences the cute picture on the website or they get to hold a cute fluffy puppy. All of this business stuff has been going on in the background. So I also heard a regular theme that health seems to be one of your highest priorities.
Can you explain just a little bit more about the role that genetic happens? You said something like you don't want to breed the wrong genetics and stuff like that. The health monitoring, the nutrition, maybe the stages with new puppies and the veterinary care that that plays.
[00:33:53] Speaker B: So it, for example, if you have a Merle color puppy, if you breed it with another Merle, the chances of your puppies being born blind or deaf or with deformity is about 80%.
So you do not want to breed two merles together. It's very important to know that because although the dog may not look Merle, it could carry Merle genes. And so if you don't have genetic testing, you're not going to realize that that dog carries the Merle and you mate it with another dog that carries the Merle and then you end up with a litter of puppies that you can't sell.
[00:34:31] Speaker A: Okay, sense that that's, that's pretty big stuff to know that you can genetically really mess up and that would be unethical to bring in, you know, and put puppies through that kind of stuff. So we have just a little bit before the break. So I know you've built a pretty strong online following. You've got your Instagram. Do you have any of these cute little fluff balls to show us?
So here's, here's one of your litters. How many active litters do you have right now?
[00:34:55] Speaker B: Right now I have three litters.
[00:34:57] Speaker A: Three litters. Okay, and so real quick, somebody, we got about 30 seconds before break. If somebody wanted to take a passion and turn it into a business like you have, what advice would you give them about doing it successful and ethically and the background work that goes into having results like what you're holding. Hold those up high for us so they can get on camera. Oh, my goodness.
[00:35:17] Speaker B: Do your research first. Come up with a game plan, a plan of how you're going to make money. Otherwise you're going to lose a lot of money in dog breeding. So how you're going to make it successful.
[00:35:29] Speaker A: Wow, that is fantastic. Well, we're going to Pause the cuteness right here. We're going to come back for our final segment of the night, more puppies and more Natalie right after these messages for Pivotal Change.
We are back with what is probably the cutest episode of pivotal change you've ever seen. But before we proceed further, I want to tell you you where to find this episode and every other episode. Go to NOW Media tv. That's the best place to go. You can se search the entire menu of everything that NOW Media offers from culture to news to business, leadership media, and even on tonight's episode, Acute Puppies. You can find it in podcast version, but the cool part is you can download it if you can't watch, you can get it on demand anywhere you want to go. Roku iOS, go to the YouTube channel. You get bilingual, both Spanish and English episodes and podcasts all the time. So Natalie, welcome back and thank you for showing us those gorgeous puppies.
[00:36:56] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:36:57] Speaker A: Oh my goodness. That is just a pile of cute fluff balls and I hope everyone can appreciate that. So we were talking a lot about setting it up at his business, taking it from, you know, a hobby to a passion or a passion to a business, I should say. And one thing that you had mentioned, you know, before is that you're not just selling puppies, you're actually selling something much more.
Can you tell us what that much more is that you're actually selling and providing as a service?
[00:37:23] Speaker B: I'm selling companions and family members.
[00:37:27] Speaker A: Oh, I like that. And those companions, those family members, they form deep, deep attachments. You know, you have emotional support, you have, you know, family bonding, daily routines. Can you tell us about some of that and how it helps helps your customers and their families?
[00:37:41] Speaker B: Yes, I expect my customers to keep the puppy with them for the majority of the day and incorporate them into their daily routines.
You know, luckily they're small enough you can take them almost anywhere. I've only been asked, I think once to leave somewhere for having a puppy, but otherwise, no problems at all. I've taken them to grocery stores and football games and everywhere. It's great for their socialization and also help helps develop a bond between you and the puppy.
[00:38:10] Speaker A: Oh, I love that. So tell me about the family dynamics. Once a puppy enters the home, we have the ability to, like you said, you've pre pre scanned or pre screened your, your clients. Now they're going into a home and they have responsibilities because bringing a new baby, bringing a new puppy, bringing a new life of any type into your home has responsibilities. How does this help A family?
[00:38:34] Speaker B: Yes. So I always tell families to make sure everyone in the family is on board with getting a puppy and that everybody equally participates in taking care of it.
Setting up schedules for walking the dog, for grooming the dog, feeding the dog, that type of thing.
[00:38:51] Speaker A: Gotcha. So we're building in responsibility, accountability, and schedules, which is some of the most important things that. That kids and young adults can. Can need. So. So let's talk a little bit about this. There's another byproduct about the massively growing body of research which shows just inevitably, that pets can improve mental and physical health as well. So what stories have you heard? What have you experienced personally about things like loneliness, anxiety, depression, general activity levels just go into the mental and physical things that you. That you're aware of and that you help promote because of your perennial Palms brand?
[00:39:25] Speaker B: Of course, there's emotional support animals, help with people who have anxiety and panic disorders and depression all the way to people with post traumatic stress disorder who have companion animals that they use and need.
They're also used for medical, such as people with diabetes and stuff like that. And there's just. Yeah, they're used in so many different areas.
[00:39:52] Speaker A: I love that. And so people have seen literal drops and decreases in anxiety, depression, going for walks, like you said, people were getting more steps in. That's one of the best ways to get prolonged health. And then do people ever find, like, new purpose and new connection through some of these companion animals?
[00:40:10] Speaker B: Definitely.
[00:40:12] Speaker A: I love that. And I really like what you mentioned, both the service animals and people with ptsd, I believe. I'm not sure you told me either in the past that two of your animals have been declared service animals so far. Is that correct? Yeah.
[00:40:23] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: Okay. So along with the children in the home and helping care for a dog, we talked about some of those responsibilities.
What specific bonds or changes in children have been reported to you or have you have. Have you seen even with your own children?
[00:40:42] Speaker B: It really just helps mature a child, giving them the responsibility.
And also, you know, know, life is rough.
Kids can be mean to each other. And it just helps having a little furry friend to come home to and talk about your day with. And it's good for kids.
[00:41:01] Speaker A: Gotcha. And so one of the things that, that, you know, we've had research, we've had psychologists on the show. One of the things that I think is really profound, and I'm just blending two different topics from two shows, is that anytime you're having a rough day, feeling bad about the world, depression, anxiety, all the negative Things that can enter. One of the best things you can do is go help another person or serve another person.
So if somebody comes home and serves an animal, has a someone to feed, to take care of, to walk, to do that, it serves the same purpose. And you're vetting people that are going to be able to do that and of course have the byproduct. Is that also part of your plan?
[00:41:37] Speaker B: Yes, it's a huge part of it.
[00:41:39] Speaker A: Oh, I love it. So you are drastically different than what I would say all of the viewers are probably used to in, in any type of breeding programs. And so you've been explaining to us these. The breeding prep, the passion turn into business, the organization, the scheduling.
Would you say there's any correlation about a business owner who has to organize their client, funnel or keep the health of their business, the health of their puppies by upgrading softwares or upgrading tools or equipment, stuff like that? Is there a correlation there, you businesswoman, to speaking to other business owners and executives?
[00:42:16] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yes, definitely. Constantly talking to other breeders to find out the new, new and best way to take care of them, whether it's grooming tools or carriers or just anything, the best foods, you know, to make sure they have a good diet.
All of those things are very important.
[00:42:36] Speaker A: So you're demonstrating constant research, research, constant learning, the ability to stay the perpetual student. And then here's. I'm going to pull out a theme that you just said that I think, think most industry leaders are afraid of competition. You're. There is competition in the puppy market. You've expressed that to me before, but you just said, I'm talking to other breeders, other people and things. And you're all collaborating, you're getting their input. What's working in your area, what's the newest product, the newest piece of equipment, what's the best nutrition available? And you're getting enhancements through people that are technically your competitors. There's a network of vendors and people out there and it's not a cutthroat industry. Like, I don't know, I'll make some car sales or something like that.
[00:43:16] Speaker B: Exactly, yes. There's some breeders, they don't want to share, they don't want to collaborate. They want to try to make as much money as possible. But the good breeders, they collaborate, they help each other.
If I don't have a certain puppy that someone's looking for, I have other breeder friends and I will recommend them to them.
I don't mind on, you know, passing on clients.
[00:43:41] Speaker A: So, and, and it's ultimately about getting the right puppy in the right home in the right circumstances, not just making a buck. And I think if more business owners listened to what you had just said, they would probably have a little bit more successful business and peace of mind.
But with that, is there anything you can tell us about a story or a time where you declined a prospective client saying it's not the right fit or not the right home or people?
[00:44:06] Speaker B: Yes. Sometimes you just kind of get a feeling about certain people.
They're more. What, for example, they care more about the image that's being put out by having one of the dogs.
One particular thing I look for is if someone asks for a teacup Pomeranian, a teacup Pomeranian does not exist.
And what the person is basically asking for is a very small Pomeranian that is too small, that is going to have issues and genetic issues and problems.
And that, to me, is a signal that they haven't done their research and they haven't. They just care about the image of having a cute puppy with them and that they're not going to care about the puppy itself.
[00:44:50] Speaker A: I gotcha. So that. That's good. So you're looking for red flags or just kind of industry buzzwords that say this person looking for. Because again, you could quote, unquote, make a teacup Pomeranian by breeding, breeding, breeding, breeding down. And that would, like you said, not be healthy. Okay, all right, so let's go into maybe the expansion of that question. So declining people that. And again, sometimes it's just a matter of education, but declining people saying it's not a right fit. You got to listen to your gut instincts. I think that's. It's a strange realm, but very legitimate business advice. What should prospective owners actually be asking, Asking before bringing a puppy home?
[00:45:31] Speaker B: First they should be asking the.
Are the dogs tested? Do they have genetic testing done?
Are they healthy? Can I see a picture of the parents?
You always want to see a picture of the parents.
What that you ask about the pedigree, like what the parents, if they have any titles or where the parents are from, you know, are they from Russia or Korea or the United States?
And then after that, usually you start talking about the price. And then if that is agreeable, then you start talking more about a particular puppy and what they're looking for, whether they want, you know, a calmer one or one that's being more playful. And luckily, I've spent enough time with all of them, I can know the answer to those questions.
[00:46:19] Speaker A: I like that a lot. So somebody that's genuinely Interested automatically is starting to show care for the puppy. Is it healthy? Does it have healthy parents either? Looking at maybe some pedigree questions as well, because it is a in a luxury companion, but they're looking at like, hey, what kind of time commitment? What type of care does this animal require? Your brain is not triggering on just random frequently asked questions. It's on, okay. They're asking me about how they can appropriately care and love this animal. And then they might ask the training, expectations, long term responsibilities, lifespan, and then it gets into a financial discussion, picking the exact right pup because there's personalities and stuff like that.
So let me do this wrap up question, maybe just some 20, 30 second response.
What do you want people to understand about responsible pet ownership and the value that a dog can bring to their family? What's your final message to them, the business owners and the puppy connoisseurs? Sewers.
[00:47:14] Speaker B: It's a lifelong commitment. You have to show up every day.
[00:47:17] Speaker A: Well, show up every day. I hope everyone hears that message. So in closing out the show, first of all, I want to thank you, Natalie, for coming on and finishing out this episode.
And then for everyone else, I want you guys, whether we're talking about business, economics, parenting or leadership, just raising healthy dogs, the lesson is going to be the same. Good outcomes rarely happen by accident. Be intentional comes from preparation, from discipline, responsibility, and genuine care for others or puppies. And that lesson is something that every business owner can fully appreciate. So I want you to go out into the world and I want you to see the change and be the change. And we'll catch you next time on pivotal Change.
